Google Cast is becoming 'Chromecast built-in'

New branding should make it clearer that standalone dongles, and devices with integrated casting, all belong to the same ecosystem.

Google is phasing out the "Google Cast" brand for devices with casting support built in, Variety reports. The move comes shortly after the launch of Google Home and Chromecast Ultra, the company's latest products with casting support. Right now the Google Cast site refers to both names — the old Google Cast and the new Chromecast built-in.

The branding change won't alter how Google Cast Chromecast works, but it will make it clearer to consumers that their existing Chromecast dongle, and their fancy new TV with Cast built-in, and that Google Home they might be thinking about buying, all belong to the same ecosystem. It's the latest move in a branding back-and-forth that's been going on since the first Chromecast dongle was first unveiled back in 2013.

It's understandable how Google might have resisted including "Chrome" in the name, since the Chrome browser is no longer central to how many people cast stuff. (It's way easier to control what you cast with a phone or tablet.) Getting rid of the "Google" in Google Cast might seem counterproductive to the firm's recent efforts to establish itself as a big player in hardware. Nevertheless, it makes sense to push "Chromecast" — already the name of a highly successful product — as the single brand for everything using the technology.

Reader comments

Google Cast is becoming 'Chromecast built-in'

LOL pick a name google!
Let's see if we have this straight.....
ChromeCast dongle is still ChromeCast
ChromeCast protocol was changed to Google Cast
ChromeCast app was changed to Google Cast
Google Cast app was changed to Google Home (after less than 2 months)
Google Home is also the name of your home assistant
Google Cast inside 3rd party devices is now ChromeCast built-in

That about sum it up? I'm going to drink a bottle of cough syrup now and forget all of this.

Seems like a really sensible idea. Chromecast has become a household name. If someone sees something with "Google Cast" it's going to cause confusion. If they see "Chromecast built in" they will know exactly what they are getting

Lol... Like really I laughed out loud...I saw the pixel in real life finality at Verizon... The physical feel of the phone is not far off from a typical Nexus. In my opinion not worth the markup to put it in the same price category as there iPhone or s7

The people who own Chromecasts are people who understand technology. Now is the time to remove Chrome from the name and just use Google Cast. You aren't going to confuse Chromecast users but you will confuse new buyers who think of Chrome as the browser and will think they need the browser to make it work. Sometimes Google reminds me of HTC with their marketing mistakes.

Just noticed something new... Was playing music via pc to Chromecast on TV and when I had a look at my phone and tablet they were both showing what was being cast and I could pause, stop, next etc from a device as well as the PC...

It would be awesome if that was new feature and also consistent, but I have zero faith in that. Half the time, I can't even manage to control the Chromecast stream from the device used to start it after 5 minutes.

In some respects it's a nice feature because you can easily control the stream from multiple devices.
But if you cast from an app on your phone, now you get double notifications which is annoying.
And it also increases the chance that someone else in your household would screw up your stream, whether on accident or to be an a**hole.
So I don't know how I feel about it yet.